Haverhill, MA (January 22, 2025) – With the basketball season heading toward the home stretch in the weeks ahead and baseball preparing for the spring season to kick off in March, both programs currently sit at eighth in their respective NJCAA national polls.
For the men's basketball team, they are ranked for the fourth consecutive poll and have climbed each of the past three weeks. The number eight ranking is their second straight week inside the top 10.
The Knights are currently winners of 15 straight games and have won 42 straight games on their home court, a streak dating back to the conclusion of the 2021-22 season.
The Knights have a pair of scorers averaging in double figures in Alejandro Delgado (Haverhill) and Javien Kirmil (Lowell) scoring 14.8 and 10.6 points a game respectively.
As a team, the Knights are scoring 86.2 points per game which ranks 12th nationally. Defensively, NECC is holding the opponent to 68 points per game which currently ranks eighth best in the nation.
Switching over to the baseball diamond, NECC will be seeking a fourth consecutive trip to the NJCAA World Series in May as they earned a number eight preseason national ranking.
Set to open a 41-game schedule in March, including a 10-game trip to Florida, the Knights return a core nucleus from 2024 including five everyday positional players and three pitchers who pitched 18 innings or more a season ago.
Armano Paulino (Lawrence) returns after batting .352 last season and Michael Giessler (Peabody) expects to be at the top of rotation after throwing 41 innings on the hill last season.
A host of incoming freshman and transfers will look to make an immediate impact on the roster and add depth over the course of the season. Division I transfer Anthony Marino (Lynn) from the University of South Alabama is rejoining his high school teammate Giessler and the duo expect to lead the pitching staff in 2025.
Head Coach Jeff Mejia will enter the season with 297 career wins, all at Northern Essex.